Former TCU Baseball Star Opens Functional Medical Practice in Keller

Former Horned Frog Slugger Jake Duncan Opened Stewarding Life Wellness, a Functional Approach to Medicine

Stewarding Life Wellness opened its doors in Keller, Texas this past February. Owned and operated by Jake Duncan, a former TCU and professional baseball player turned medical provider, Stewarding Life Wellness approaches medicine in a practical and functional way. When you first meet Jake Duncan, he might overwhelm you with his knowledge of the body and the way it works. You’ll be quick to see his passion and desire to serve your medical needs with care and compassion. Stewarding Life Wellness might just change the way you think about health and wellness, as it has done for so many in the past few months. What follows is a note from Jake Duncan, explaining his passion to serve others through his practice.

God has designed the body to heal and repair itself but without the proper daily signals this brilliant design can be hindered.

About Jake Duncan and Stewarding Life Wellness in Keller

From Jake: My wife Brittney and I love Jesus. We are convicted often to think and pray through ways we can be better stewards of the lives and gifts God has given us. This passion has also spread into wanting to help others do the same thing. Stewarding Life Wellness (SLW) was birthed officially in 2016 out of those heart longings.

SLW is a Functional Medicine practice in Old Town Keller, Texas. Functional Medicine looks for dysfunction in the body and tries to help restore optimal function. This often comes in the form of laboratory testing to find underlying hormonal imbalances, digestive pathogens, sources of chronic inflammation, and nutrient deficiencies. Most symptoms that people experience daily stem from these deeper sources. Yes, medications may be needed and may be helpful in some situations but very rarely does a medication affect the root cause of the symptom. Worst case is that it poorly helps the symptoms it is intended for and causes several new symptoms to occur.

Jake Duncan: Professional Background

My background as Physician Assistant gave me a good foundation in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and common disease processes. It also gave me a good viewpoint on medications: when they are helpful and when the benefit does not outweigh the risk. Functional Medicine in general does not turn to many medications. This is not because of an “anti-medicine” thought process but because there are often better and safer ways to treat the root cause(s) of illnesses than many medications provide. After PA school and working in Urgent Care and Family Medicine for several years, I received my Functional Medicine training under Dr. Dan Kalish through The Kalish Institute. Dr. Kalish has been training practitioners in Functional Medicine for over a decade now. His approach is focused on 3 main body systems: Neuroendocrine, Gastrointestinal, and Detox Systems. Laboratory testing is also aimed at identifying problems in one or more of these body systems. The vast majority of symptoms will be improved when applying a personalized lifestyle, nutrition and supplement based protocol for each individual based on the lab findings.

SLW Meets Patients in the Office and Through Remote Means

At Stewarding Life Wellness, our team is setup to do In-Person and Remote Consultations for patients. The Remote Consultations have a few limitations as we are not able to diagnose or prescribe medications to avoid practicing “telemedicine.” Remote consultations basically function as Nutritional Consultations based on the lab tests. The typical ages we see are 3 years old and up. Occasionally a mother will want to check a younger child for food sensitivities but otherwise there is not a lot of testing we do for kids younger than 3.

The main symptoms for which people come [to Stewarding Life Wellness] are fatigue, digestive issues, hormone imbalances and weight.

The main symptoms for which people come in are fatigue, digestive issues, hormone imbalances and weight. The Functional Medicine model is ideal for these complaints. We also enjoy seeing athletes or those just wanting to optimize their athletic performance and recovery. Functional lab tests are even great for those with no significant symptoms but just want to get ahead of the curve before symptoms do occur. This is ideal but not many people are this proactive with their health. We’ve been trained to seek medical care only when we are sick. In some cultures medical providers were used to keep people well and actually stopped receiving payment when their patients became ill! We’re flipped that approach upside down in many aspects unfortunately.

Learn More about Stewarding Life Wellness in Keller

If anyone has further questions about our practice they can visit our website at www.stewardinglifewellness.com or our social media platforms facebook and twitter and our blog. Email or phone calls are also welcome. We do have the option for a free 10 minute phone consult for those who want to ask a few questions before deciding if they want to move forward or not. Wherever people start with seeking health, start with the basics: Real food whole food diet, sleep at least 7 hrs/night, exercise 3-4 times per week, and take time to play and have fun to keep your life’s stressors in perspective. God has designed the body to heal and repair itself but without the proper daily signals this brilliant design can be hindered.

About the author

Malcom Chakery is founder and editor for DFW MAG and enjoys covering stories , events, and news from Big D to Cowtown. Follow Malcom on twitter @chakery. Have a great story idea? Please email it to editor@dfwmag.com.